Brand New Love
by MewCandi
Summary: Masaya is still in England and Ichigo misses him more than she thought she would. When Ryou tries to comfort her, do things between them go a little too far? Updated very often. Chapter 11 now up!
1. Brand New Love

Hey Everybody! This is Amanda speaking!I'm not very good withfanfics so forgive me if my grammar sucks or if the story is really confusing!

I appreciate advice so if I do something wrong, please tell me! I would really like to make it good!

It would also help if you knew the characters, so if you're new to the series, you may get a little confused.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew(though it would be super cool if I did)! I really don't know anything about it other than what is written in the mangas!

Okay, here goes nothing!

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"It's such a nice day today, "Ichigo said to herself as she played with the dandelion under her fingers. She sighed, "Too bad Masaya couldn't be here to enjoy it with me." (A/N Just to let you all know, my fic takes place after volume 7 of the manga, so Masaya is still in England) She let herself fall backward and looked up toward the sky, "I never thought I'd get so lonely without Masaya."

"Ichigo?"

Ichigo quickly sat up and turned around to see Ryou staring blankly at her. "Ryou?! What are you doing here?!" A surprised expression came over her face as she stared at him.

He came up and sat beside her, "It's really nice today, so I thought I'd take a little walk. You don't look very happy to see me. Did I interrupt something important?"

Ichigo lied back down, "No, I was just thinking."

Ryou laughed, "Well that's a change, something must be wrong. What were you thinking about?"

Ichigo frowned at him, "That's not funny Ryou, surprising as it may seem, I am pretty smart." She looked back toward the sky once again, "I just...didn't think I'd get so lonely without Masaya. Lately he's all I've been thinking about, and the more I think about him, the more I miss him."

Ryou looked down at the ground, "You shouldn't look so sad Ichigo, you look much more beautiful...when you're smiling."

Ichigo looked at him and blushed, "Thank you," she smiled, "I guess you're not always a rude jerk." She closed her eyes, "I'm just worried that...maybe he will lose interest in me. He's been gone so long, it wouldn't be too surprising if he found a prettier, sweeter, smarter girl that he may like more than me."

Ryou still wouldn't take his eyes off of the ground, "Don't say things like that. He will most likely find a bunch of girls smarter than you, but you're definitely the most beautiful, sweetest girl there is." He looked over at her.

Ichigo opened her eyes and looked back at him, "Ryou, I..."

Before she could finish her sentence Ryou had put his lips against hers. Ichigo's eyes widened with surprise, she didn't know what to do, but slowly, her eyes began to close. She completely forgot about Masaya, something she thought would never happen. "Such warm skin," she thought to herself, "it's such a strange feeling, but it feels so...nice." It felt like something she had never felt before, something she had been craving for such a long time.

Ichigo's eyes re-opened and she pulled herself away from the confused boy sitting in front of her. Her eyes began to fill with tears, "Ryou...I'm so sorry, but..."

Ryou finished the sentence for her, "but you love Masaya," he said with a disappointed tone in his voice.

Ichigo tried to hide her tears, "I-I'm sorry!" She got up before she really started to cry, and ran away aimlessly refusing to look back fearing that it would just make her hurt even more. "I'm so sorry Masaya, Ryou, please forgive me for the horrible thing I have just done." She continued running, not really sure where she was going, she just wanted to get away.

Ryou remained in the same spot, he didn't move, he just sat there thinking about what he had just done. Not only did he hurt himself, but he hurt Ichigo, and to him, that is the worst thing he could have done.

Ichigo fell to the ground, she was too tired to keep going, "What am I doing?" She took deep, heavy breaths and wiped the tears from her cheeks, "I can't just run every time I have a problem, I should straighten things out with Ryou," She buried her face in her arms, "but I'm scared, I don't want to, besides, he probably doesn't want to talk to me after what I did to him." It started raining. Ichigo looked up at the clouds and smiled, "So much for my nice day, I guess God is punishing me for being so cruel, I deserve it." Once again, the tears began flowing out of her eyes.

"Ichigo!"

She turned toward the direction from which she had heard the familiar voice. Shirogane stood there, water dripping from his golden hair. "R-Ryou..." His figure gradually began to blur until she finally fainted.

Ichigo woke up in Ryou's bed where she saw him sitting in a chair beside her. "Ryou? What's going on? Why am I in your bed?" Her eyes filled with fear as she thought to herself, "What did he do? He wouldn't...he couldn't have..."

"Why do you look so scared," he seemed to know what she was thinking, "don't worry I didn't do anything stupid, I was just scared that you would get too sick before I could event make it to your house, the cafe was much closer so I brought you here, you were out for a couple of hours."

"Ryou..." She noticed that he was still wet, but it was not because of the rain, it was sweat. His skin was pale. "Ryou what's wrong, are you sick?" She sat up.

"I'm fine. I just caught a small cold."

Ichigo walked up to him and put her forehead against his causing him to turn a bright red. "Oh my God, Ryou you have a fever!" She walked toward the door, "You get into your bed immediately, I'm gonna go get some water!" She left the room closing the door behind her.

Ryou stared at the door for a few moments before climbing into his bed. Soon, Ichigo was back with a bowl of water and a piece of cloth. She sat in the chair where Ryou was sitting before. She soaked the cloth in the water and set it over his forehead. Neither of them said a word to each other until Ichigo broke the silence, "Look what I've done now, I guess I am as stupid as you say I am." Her eyes began to water.

"You're not stupid." Ichigo looked at him. He smiled at her, "Don't be such a crybaby, I told you that you're much more beautiful when you're happy." He wiped the tears from her eyes, "You wouldn't want Masaya to see you like this, would you? I think he would agree with me when I say that you're gorgeous when you have that cheerful smile across your face." Ryou got up from his bed.

"Ryou what are you doing? You're sick, you should be resting!"

"Don't worry I feel much better now, thanks to you." He smiled causing Ichigo to blush. He looked out the window, "It's still raining really hard, you should stay here for the night, I'll sleep in the lab." He began to gather his things and walk out of the room.

"Ryou, wait!"

Ryou stopped and looked back at her.

Ichigo pulled her hands behind her back and looked down at the floor, her cheeks were bright pink, "This is your room, I can't allow you to sleep in the lab."

Ryou stared at her blankly, "Well, I don't want to sleep in the kitchen, I don't have much of a choice."

Ichigo's cheeks began to redden even more, "Well, um...Why don't we just...you know...share the room, that way it'll um...be easier to keep an eye on you while you're sick." She refused to look him in the eye.

He dropped his things and walked toward her. He lifted her chin and pulled the hair back from her face.

"Ryou? W-What are you..."

He put his finger over her lips, "I don't want to pressure you into doing something you don't want to do."

She shook her head, "But..."

Ryou put his arms around her waist, "Ichigo..."

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Well that all for the first chapter! Can you all guess what happens next XD? If I get some reviews, I'll keep going, but if no one reviews, then I don't want to continue something that no one likes, so please review!


	2. True Feelings

Aaaaah! I accidently removed my story! I got a really nice review too!

So just to let you know, I had the first chapter up yesterday so I'm probably not ever going to post two chapters up on the same day ever again.

Now, on with the story!

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Ryou's face came closer to Ichigo's, he wasn't sure of what she felt about what he was going to do. He hesitated at first, but he finally began to kiss her.

Ichigo's eyes filled with surprise, "What should I do?" Ichigo thought to herself, "I love Masaya, but for some reason, I don't want to stop this." She closed her eyes and put her arms around Ryou, "I don't know how to explain these feelings I'm having about Ryou right now, could it be...love?"

Ichigo fell into the bed with Ryou. He continued kissing her as he reached for the buttons on the back of her blouse, but was shortly stopped when Ichigo grabbed his wrist.

"Ryou?" The door began to open. Ichigo pulled herself away from Ryou. Keiichiro walked in and turned away, "I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

Ichigo realized what she was doing and her eyes began to fill with tears, "I-I have to go!" She pulled her blouse together and ran past Keiichiro.

Ryou put his hand on his head, "Damn! I've done it again!"

Ichigo ran through the rain leaving a trail of tears behind her, "I'm a horrible girlfriend, how could I do that..." She stopped at the door of her house, "...to such a wonderful guy like Masaya." She opened the door and ran to her room. "Ryou, that jerk! It's all his fault!" She fell to her knees, "What am I saying? This isn't his fault, I could have stopped him if I wanted to." She climbed into her bed and buried herself in the blankets. She picked up a photograph of Masaya sitting on a desk next to her, "You deserve a better girlfriend Masaya, I'm sorry you got stuck with such a horrible person like me. I hope you can forgive me." She set the picture down and closed her eyes, "I swear, I'll be better...from now on."

Shortly later, the sun began to rise. Cafe Mew Mew wasn't that busy so all the girls just stood around trying to make themselves look busy. Ryou was in the kitchen when Keiichiro walked in to check on him, "Ryou?"

Ryou didn't look at him, "She's never going to talk to me again."

Keiichiro sighed, "You don't know that. When she gets here, why don't you just try talking to her."

Ryou managed to pull his head up, "She's probably not even going to show up today." He then lowered his head again.

Keiichiro smiled, "Maybe you should just tell her how you feel?"

Ryou returned the smile, "You're right, when she gets here, I will tell her."

Ichigo paused before opening the door of the cafe, "This is stupid, maybe if I avoid the subject, we can pretend nothing ever happenned between us. She reached for the handle and finally opened it. "Sorry I'm late, I'll make up for it by washing the dishes right now!" She walked into the kitchen trying to avoid eye contact with Ryou and Keiichiro as she made her way to the sink.

Keiichiro put his hand on Ryou's shoulder, "Good luck." He walked out of the kitchen and gently shut the door.

Ryou took a breath and walked up to Ichigo, "Ichigo, about last night..."

Ichigo stopped him, "Oh my! What beautiful cups! Where did you find these gorgeous things!" She put on a fake smile hoping to draw Ryou away from that topic.

He blinked and tried starting again, "Last night, I..."

Ichigo held a small saucer close in front of his face, "And these plates! Such a wonderful shade of pink! The color reminds me of the cherry blossoms in the spring!"

Ryou realized what she was doing and took her hand startling her and causing her to drop the plate. Ichigo looked down at the small pieces of the saucer which she had just broken, "Oh no, the plate, I should clean it up."

She tried to bend down, but Ryou just pulled her back up, "Ichigo we have to talk, I know you're trying to avoid the subject of what happenned last night."

Ichigo sighed, "I'm sorry, I was just really scared." She looked him in the eyes, "It's just that, I feel so horrible. I hurt you, and I just cheated on Masaya. He would never do something that terrible to me."

Ryou put his hand on her cheek, "But you didn't do anything, it was my fault, I pressurred you into doing it." Ichigo smiled causing Ryou to smile back, "Listen Ichigo, there's something I want to tell you."

Ichigo blinked, "Yeah what is it?"

Ryou hesitated, "Well um..."

"Oh, but before you say anything, I want to tell you...my true feelings about you, but you can go first."

Ryou gave her a surprised look, "Your feelings? Why don't you go first then. I can wait."

Ichigo blushed, "Well um...I...really care about you...and...um..."

Ryou didn't move, he just watched her and waited for her next words.

She continued, "Well, I really like you!" She blushed and lowered her head.

A smile came over Ryou's face, "Ichigo, I feel the same way, I really like you too."

Ichigo quickly lifted her head back up and put on a cheerful smile, "Really?!" Ryou nodded. She got really excited, "In that case...let's be best friends!"

Ryou's smile faded, "Best...f-friends?"

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Yea! 2 whole chapters! Woohoo! Weird, I always supported Ichigo and Masaya as a couple, but for some reason I'm writing an IchigoxRyou fanfic!

Well, please review!


	3. A Loving Friendship

Yes, another chapter. I think my first chapter was the best I've done so far, I guess I'm getting a little bit lazy...

I've read a lot of IchigoxRyou fanfictions and it's starting to make me think that maybe they would make a better couple.

I don't hate Masaya, but he's kinda...boring?

Yeah, well, that's enough of my babbling so...

Chapter 3!

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"Did you say best friends?"

"Yes, I'm so glad you feel the same way!" Ichigo turned around and smiled, "Well I better get back to work, maybe we can go do something later!" She walked out of the kitchen and joined her friends outside.

Ryou sank into the nearest chair and closed his eyes, "Best friends..."

Shortly afterward Keiichiro walked back in, "So, did you tell her?"

"I think," Ryou answered with a disappointed tone.

"Well, how'd it go? Does she feel the same way?"

"She wants to be 'best friends'," Ryou replied.

Keiichiro didn't know what to that, so he just put his hand on his shoulder then walked away.

"You looked really nervous a second ago, why the sudden cheerfulness," Minto asked as she watched Ichigo dance around the room.

Ichigo smiled, "Oh it's nothing, I'm just in a really happy mood today!"

Ryou walked out of the kitchen, "Okay everyone, you can all leave now, it's closing time."

Minto took a deep breath, "Finally!"

Ichigo glared at her, "Oh please, it's not like you did anything!"

Ryou began walking toward his room, "I guess I'll be going too."

"Ryou, wait!" Ichigo ran to him.

Ryou turned around, "What is it?"

Ichigo continued, "Well, it's not that late, would you like to take a walk with me at the park, you know, since we're friends and all now?"

Ryou tried his best to smile, "Sure, that would...be nice."

Ichigo looked up in the sky, "Wow, the moon is so beautiful. I'm glad we could spend time together like this, how bout you?"

Ryou looked into her eyes, "Yeah, it's nice."

She blinked, "Is something wrong?"

"She has beautiful eyes," he thought to himself.

"Ryou?!" Ichigo waved her hand in front of his face.

"Ichigo, you always talk about how I'm a jerk and how rude I am, why did you all of a sudden want to become best friends?"

She smiled at him, "Well, you've been comforting me ever since Masaya left. You really understand me, and I neversaw it before, but you're really easy to talk to. It's nice having someone like that, you know what I mean?"

He couldn't help but smile, "Yeah I'm glad you feel that way," he sat on a bench, "why don't we take a little rest?"

Ichigo joined him and rested her head on his shoulder. Ryou's cheeks turned red causing Ichigo to giggle, "Why are you blushing?"

"What?! I'm not blushing! There must be something wrong with your eyes!" He turned away trying to hide his face, "She may not love me, but I guess for now, being her friend will be fine," he thought to himself.

"I can't stop thinking about him," Ichigo whispered.

Ryou looked at her, "Who, Masaya?"

She nodded, "Do you think that he's thinking about me also? Oh, forget it! He probably doesn't have enough time to waste thinking about an airhead like me!"

Ryou thumped her on the head!

Ichigo started crying and rubbed her head, "Ow! You bastard, what was that for?!"

Ryou laughed, "You know, you can be really stupid at times! You may be an airhead, but it's not like he can just forget about you. He probably hasn't stopped thinking about you since he left! How could you even think about something like that!" It was hard for him to say that, he really didn't want Ichigo to be with Masaya, but seeing the pretty smile on her face afterward made the suffering worth it.

Ichigo laughed,"Thanks Ryou, I'm glad you said that, but please be less violent the next time you try and comfort me." She laid her head back down on his shoulder and closed her eyes, "I wish it could be this way all the time, I've never felt this way around anyone but you, I'm really glad we're friends. I wish this night...would...never end." At that last word, she fell asleep.

He smiled and brushed his fingers through her hair. "Ichigo...I wish I had the courage to tell you, what I really felt, but I guess for now, a loving friendship will be enough." He laid his head against hers and shortly fell asleep.

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Wow! That wasn't a very long chapter, was it?

Gosh, I'm not really impressed with my last two chapters, they're okay, but I know I can do better.

I'll try my best to get this right!

I plan on including some of the other characters in this story, but the main focus will be on Ryou and Ichigo(a little Masaya...)

Thanks for another super nice review gelatinoussugar! It's because of you that I'm still writing this fanfic! 3

Until next time!


	4. An Unfortunate Surprise

Okay, I think this chapter is a bit better than my last two!

At least I hope so, I worked harder on this one at least, and am more impressed with it.

Minto shows up more in this chapter(a little bit of Zakuro too).

I hope you'll enjoy it!

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Ichigo woke up in her bed still in the same clothes she wore the night before. She rubbed her eyes and walked down the stairs to see her mother and father already sitting at the dining table eating their breakfast. She stretched her arms and yawned then sat in a seat next to her mother, "Mom? Dad? When did I get here? I thought I was at the park with..." She stopped herself thinking about what her father would think if she was at a park all night with a boy.

Her mother looked over at her, "It's about time you woke up, Ichigo?" She put on her usual, cheerful smile, "That nice blonde boy carried you and dropped you off here last night after you fell asleep. He was such a sweet boy, the poor thing, it was around midnight when your father finished freaking out and questioning him." She glared over at the man to her left.

He set down his newspaper, "What was I supposed to do! Some strange older boy comes here with my daughter in his arms and you expect me not to freak out over this?! Who was that guy anyway, Ichigo? I thought you were with that other boy, you know, Masaya!"

Ichigo banged her head against the table, "You embarrassed me in front of Ryou?! Dad! That's my boss at the cafe! And I am still with Masaya! Ryou is just one of my best friends!"

Ichigo's mother draped her arms over her husband, "Isn't that nice now honey? Ichigo has a friendship with her boss!" She gave him a small kiss on the cheek, "Now you be nice to that boy, we wouldn't want to get our daughter in trouble now would we?"

Ichigo rolled her eyes and walked back up the stairs as her parents did their daily "lovey-dovey" talk downstairs. She threw herself up onto her bed and buried her face in the pillow, "I can't believe dad freaked out in front of Ryou, how embarrassing." She looked out the window, "I wonder how Masaya is doing?" She glanced over at her cell phone, "What am I thinking? He's too busy to listen to my babbling..." She stood up and picked up the phone and began dialing his number, "...but I'm sure he won't mind if I just talk to him for a couple of minutes."

"Hello?" Masaya answered the phone.

A big smile grew on Ichigo's face at the sound of Masaya's voice, "Masaya! It's me, Ichigo!"

"Oh, Ichigo. Hi! Why'd you call?"

She fell back into her bed, "I miss you and really want to talk to you! Are you busy?"

"Well, actually, I am kind of busy."

The smile on Ichigo's face faded, "Oh, I see. I'm really sorry for bothering you, but I didn't know how much longer I would have lasted if I didn't get to hear you voice again. Well...um... I guess I'll let you go now, but please call back the second you have the chance, okay?"

"Alright, bye."

"Bye." At that, she hung up the phone, "I knew I shouldn't have called him. He must think that I'm extremely clingy now, but at least I got to listen to his sweet voice for those couple of seconds," she sighed, "Maybe Ryou's not busy today, we can go get some pizza or something!" She dialed his number and listened to the phone ring, "Damn, no answer!" She hung up the phone, "I guess I'm going to have to go out alone today. I don't think I'll have better luck with anyone else either." She put on a sweater and skirt and walked downstairs and out the door ignoring her parents who were still doing their giggling and kissing.

"Ichigo?"

Ichigo turned around, "Oh Minto, it's you, what are you doing here?"

"I was kind of bored, so I thought I'd come by to see if you're doing anything. If not, maybe we could go do something together."

Ichigo's eyes lit up, "Yes! That would be great, I didn't think you would have the time to be with me, cause it doesn't seem like anyone else does!" She ran up to Minto and put her arms around her with a big smile on her face.

"Okay Ichigo, if I knew you were gonna strangle me like this, I never would have come over."

Ichigo released Minto and scratched her head, "Sorry, I'm just so happy that I won't have to be alone today, I got really worried. I'm glad you came!" The two began walking, "So what do you plan on doing today, you wanna go get some pizza, or see a movie?"

Minto smiled, "I was thinking about taking a nice walk by the river today, but if you want..."

Ichigo stopped her, "Oh, no no no no no! I was just giving you some ideas, I didn't know you already had something in mind!" She looked up at the clouds, "It seems like a nice day for a walk anyway, that sounds like a good idea." The two girls walked at the edge of the river, "I'm really glad you came by today, I really did not want to spend such a nice day by myself!" She smiled and began skipping.

Minto giggled, "I'm glad also. I called Zakuro, but she said she was busy with something else. Probably some modeling thing again." Stars began to appear in her eyes, "I envy her, she has such a great life! I wish I could be just like her! But I guess things like that will only happen in my dreams, huh?" She began laughing.

Ichigo began laughing also, "That's not true. You did really well the last time we tried out to become models! I bet if those Chimera Animas hadn't appeared, you would have been a model by now also, just like Zakuro, then you two would probably be able to spend more time together!"

Minto smiled, "Thanks Ichigo, hearing you say that makes me really happy!"

Ichigo giggled, but then she stopped and her eyes grew.

"I-Ichigo?" Minto stared at her blankly.

Ichigo ran and hid behind a tree, grabbing Minto's wrist and pulling her along, "Minto, look?"

Minto pulled her wrist away from Ichigo, "Ow! What is it?!"

"Shhhh! Look over there, isn't that Zakuro?" Ichigo pointed over to a girl sitting on a rock by the river with a cigarette in her mouth.

"Oh my God! It is Zakuro! I didn't know she smoked!" Minto watched in horror as the smoke was blown out of her idol's mouth, "But, she's so young!" Minto got up and began walking toward the spot where Zakuro was sitting.

Ichigo tried to stop her, "Minto, no! What are you doing?!"

"Z-Zakuro? Is that...you? W-What are you doing?" Minto asked, her voice shaking.

Zakuro quickly turned her head and faced Minto, "Minto?! What are you doing here?" She pulled the cigarette out of her mouth and hid it behind her back, even though she knew that Minto had already caught her smoking.

Ichigo ran by Minto's side, "Zakuro! Since when did you smoke?!"

Zakuro turned back toward the river and put the cigarette in her mouth, "I started smoking last month, it helps me relax when I'm stressed out." She blew some smoke out of her mouth and closed her eyes.

Ichigo pulled the cigarette out of Zakuro's mouth and threw it on the ground, "Well it's bad for you! You shouldn't be smoking!"

Zakuro stood up in anger, "Well you shouldn't be making out with your boss when you know that you have a boyfriend!" Ichigo's eyes filled with tears as she stepped away from Zakuro. Zakuro put her hands over her mouth, "Ichigo, I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean..."

"So Ryou told you..." Ichigo ignored the tears flowing down her cheeks.

Zakuro reached toward Ichigo, "No, Ichigo that's not..."

Ichigo pushed away Zakuro's hand, "That bastard... I thought he was my friend, I thought you were my friend!" She ran away with tears following behind her.

"Ichigo, wait!" Minto cried out to her. Her eyes also began to water. She turned around to face Zakuro once more, "Zakuro, how could you?!"

"Minto, I'm really sorry, I don't know what came over me!" Zakuro tried to explain.

Minto shook her head and ran after Ichigo.

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Well I guess this was a longer chapter so I'm kinda happy with it!

Tell me what you think and leave a review!

Chapter 5 to be up soon!


	5. The Unexpected Visitor

A little more Zakuro and Minto in this chapter and a bit more fluffiness between Ryou and Ichigo.

I think I did pretty good on this chapter also, but Chapter 1 is still my favorite, I'm getting there though!

Okay, now time for Chapter 5!

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"I can't believe he told Zakuro," Ichigo kept running as the tears ran down her cheeks, "I thought he was my friend! I guess I was wrong about him. He really is a jerk!" She ran toward the cafe, "I'll give him a piece of my mind!" She ignored the staring people watching as she ran down the street yelled to herself, "And I can't believe Zakuro would say something like that to me...no matter...how true it may be." She finally reached Cafe Mew Mew and stomped in. She marched up the stairs and knocked loudly on the door to Ryou's room.

The door opened and Ryou stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He noticed her puffy eyes, "Ichigo! Have you been crying? What's wrong?" He stepped closer to her, "We're friends now, you can tell me what happenned, right?"

Ichigo slapped him across the face, "How can you say we're friends, after what you just did? I bet you didn't even think about my feelings when you told Zakuro about what happenned between us did you?! How many other people did you tell, Ryou?! Tell me!" She wiped away her tears and waited for his explanation of what happenned.

Ryou rubbed his cheek. He stared at her blankly and confused, "I don't know what you're talking about. I-I didn't tell...anyone."

Ichigo grew angry, "Don't give me that Ryou!! Do you expect me to believe that the whole thing just magically appeared in Zakuro's head?!"

"He didn't tell me Ichigo." Zakuro walked up from behind the two, "I was there, when it all happenned." Zakuro's face also showed signs of crying. She tried to hide it, but it wasn't very hard to notice with the tear stains across her cheeks.

"Zakuro! How could you have been there? I didn't see you!" Ichigo was confused, but still trying to look mad.

Zakuro tried to smile, "I guess you were to busy crying to notice. I was standing behind Keiichiro when he...you know...kinda walked in. I was just asking him some questions about the whole Mew Mew thing. When he didn't know the answer to one of my questions, we thought that maybe Ryou would know, so we came up here to ask him, and that's when I found out." She turned her head toward the floor, "I'm really sorry, I planned on keeping my mouth shut about it, but I'm just really stressed out, and I guess I just wasn't thinking right."

"Omigosh! Are you serious?!" Ichigo turned back around to face Ryou again, who was still rubbing his cheek, "Ryou, is this true?"

Ryou was also confused about the whole thing, "I guess so, I knew about as much as you did before Zakuro explained everyting."

Ichigo put her arms around Ryou and rested her head on Ryou's chest, "I'm so sorry Ryou," she tried to hold back her tears, but they still came out, "I shouldn't have just jumped to conclusions like that, I hope you can forgive me and we can still be friends."

Ryou started blushing, seeing the girl he loved with her arms around him. He smiled and stroked her hair, "Of course we can be friends, I don't know what I'd do if we weren't." He pulled her chin up, "Come on, it's getting late, I'll walk you home." She nodded and the two walked out of the cafe.

Zakuro smiled noticing that the two had forgotten all about her. She slid down against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, "That's one problem solved, now to straighten things out with Minto." She took what was left of her box of cigarettes in her pocket and threw them into the trash can across from her. She sighed and got up, "I guess I'll go back to work now." She turned around to face Minto, who had been standing in the hallway behind her. "Minto! Look Minto, the cigarettes are gone, I'll quit smoking and..."

Minto came up and hugged her, "Zakuro...thank you." She was crying her tears of joy with a gentle calm smile on her face.

Zakuro was surprised, but then put on a gentle smile and also began crying with Minto.

"Well, here we are." Ryou brought Ichigo to the door of her house.

"Thanks for walking me here Ryou, I would invite you to come inside for a while, but, I don't want you to suffer through my dad's interrogations again." She shivered at the thought of her father putting her into even more embarrassment.

Ryou laughed, "Thanks anyway Ichigo." There was a silence between the two for a couple of seconds.

"I guess I should go inside now, my parents are probably worried," she paused for a moment, and walked up to him, "Bye." She kissed him on the cheek and quickly walked into her house with cheeks matching the color of her own eyes.

Ryou blushed and also began walking home, "I guess beside the whole slapping thing, I had a pretty good night." He smiled, "I'm glad she's happy now." He looked up at the stars, "Now if only I could be the one to be happy with her."

Ichigo leaned against the door, "Why did I kiss him?" She put her hand over her lips, "It was a friendly kiss though, it's not like I'm cheating on Masaya...again." She ran up the stairs and sat on her bed. She took out her cell phone out of her coat pocket, "Speaking of Masaya, he still hasn't called me like he said he would." She looked disappointed, but kept telling herself that she wasn't. She closed her eyes and forced herself to smile, "I shouldn't worry myself like that, he's probably just busy! I won't bother him this time!" She fell back and looked up at the ceiling, "At least I have good friends to comfort me, I think I'll live 'til Masaya gets back." She closed her eyes and finally allowed herself to fall asleep.

The telephone started ringing. Ichigo poked her head out from under her blankets. She stretched her arms as she walked to the phone and picked it up, "Hello?" She answered sleepily.

"Ichigo, it's Ryou."

Ichigo looked over at her clock, "Ryou? Why are you calling so early?"

"I think you'd better come to the cafe. There's someone here to see you."

Ichigo blinked, "Really? Okay, I'll be there in a second!" She hung up the phone and put on her coat as she left the house. She arrived at the cafe and saw Ryou standing in front of a table by the door, "Hey Ryou, who's here to see me?" She asked curiously.

He stepped out of the way revealing a familiar boy with his back to the two, "See for yourself."

The boy turned around, "Hey sweetie! Did you miss me?"

Ichigo's eyes grew, "K-Kish?"

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Woohoo! Kish is here! Yea!

Kish isn't gonna be a big part of the story, but it's just so fun when he's in it.

I hope you enjoyed the story so far and come back and read the next one!


	6. Over Her

Yea! I'm back!!! Sorry, I haven't updated in a while. I forgot to say this in my last chapter, but we had our freshmen class trip, so that's why I haven't been updating! We have a class trip every year and I never miss them! So, it won't take this long to update very often, and for those who actually care, I had a blast...

Also, I can't believe how many reviews I got while I was gone! I read each and everyone one of them and they made me so happy! I wasn't expecting it, since I wasn't getting that many earlier. For those who asked me questions, I'll have the answers at the end! Thank you so much!! T.T

Thanks again and please keep reading and reviewing!

And now, Chapter 6!!!! (Finally...)

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"Kish! What are you doing here?!" She stood in front of him, motionless, "I thought you...I mean...aren't you supposed to be 'happy' about Masaya and me?" She felt like running out of the cafe, but she knew that would be very rude (or stupid for that matter).

He stood up and hovered toward her, "It's been a long time hasn't it, don't worry, my little kitten, I know all about how that ungrateful Masaya left you for England," he put his hand on her cheek and put his face close to hers, "but don't worry, I'm here now, so you won't ever have to be alone again."

Ichigo pushed herself away from him, stumbling backward in the process. She glared at Ryou, "I wonder where you heard about that." She looked back at Kish, "Kish, I think you misunderstood, but Masay didn't leave me," she pulled herself back up keeping her distance from Kish, "he's just studying. He wants to learn more about endangered animals. He'll be back for me soon, and everything will be back to normal, besides, I have Ryou and my other friends to keep me company."

Kish shook his head, "Now Ichigo, you know that denial will just make things harder, you have to accept the facts here." He began to approach her once again, "Now why don't you come with me, I know a great way to cheer you up." He winked at her causing a chill to go up her spine.

"I'm serious Kish, Masaya and I are still together, and that's not gonna change." The two had forgotten all about Ryou who was enjoying the show in his chair where Kish was previously sitting. Ichigo sighed seeing as it was useless trying to explain these things to Kish, "Listen Kish, I really like you," Ichigo quickly continued before giving Kish the wrong idea of what she just said, "as a friend that is, but nothing like that is gonna happen between us. Do you understand?"

Kish laughed, "What's wrong Ichigo?" He lifted her chin, "That's right, we never had the time to make out before I left this planet. Why don't we finish where we left off." He closed his eyes as he moved closer to her face, but before he could reach her lips, a shoe hit him in the back of his head." He turned around angrily to face Ryou, "What the hell was that for?" He rubbed a bump on his head.

Ryou just sat there as if nothing happenned, "Oops. Must have slipped out of my hand. I can be so klumsy at times." He snickered making Kish even more angry than he already was.

Kish waved his fist at him, "Why don't you leave and give Ichigo and me some alone time! There's some things we want to do before I have to leave again!"

Ryou stood up, "Did you not here her! She's not interested in you, so why don't you just go back to your planet and leave her, and the rest of us alone!"

"You're the one who should leave her alone, she's not anymore interested in you than she is in me!" This caused Ryou to blush and look away making it all the more fun for Kish, "Oh...I see...so you do like her, so it's not just this so called 'friendship' that you like to call it."

Ichigo, who was also blushing, joined back into the argument, "What the hell are you talking about Kish?! Ryou and I are just friends!"

Kish smirked, "I don't think your 'friend' feels the same way." He could see the redness in Ryou's face from the corner of his eye, "Isn't that right now, Ryou?"

"Shut up! You don't know anything about me!" He marched his way toward Kish, "I shouldn't have let you in here if I knew you were going to bother everyone!"

"It wasn't my idea to come back here," Kish turned his back to Ryou, "I just figured that while I was here, I'd have a little bit of fun with Ichigo." He directed a smile toward Ichigo. She pretended she didn't see, but she wasn't very good at it.

"Then who's idea was it?" Ryou asked.

A loud crash was heard in the kitchen which made everyone jump, "Tar-Tar!!" The little alien fell out the door of the kitchen with Purin following on top of him, "Tart! What are you doing here?! I missed you so much! I knew you'd come back to see me! She squeezed him hard causing his face to turn blue!"

"Take it easy Purin!" Tart pulled his way free and took a deep breath, "I didn't come back to see you! I...I just wanted to get some more candy!"

Kish flew in between the two, "Don't lie Tart. Just a minute ago, you said that you wanted to see the little monkey girl after the promise you made to her before we left. How sweet of you." He snickered.

Tart pushed him away, "You stay out of this Kish! No one asked you!"

Purin jumped on top of Tart and began squeezing him again, "So you really did come back to see me! How sweet! I knew you would, I knew you liked me too!"

Tart blushed, "What do you mean 'I like you too'! No one ever said that! I just wanted to keep my word, that's all. I never break promises!"

Kish rolled his eyes and left the two young ones alone. He flew back to Ichigo who was now trying to sneak out of the cafe, "I know how much this will disappoint you honey, but I'll have to go for now. Don't worry though, I'll be back very soon." He blew her a kiss and then disappeared.

Ichigo sank into the nearest chair and sighed, "Thank God he's gone! I thought he would never leave!" She looked over at the forgotten Ryou who was staring at her blankly, "What's wrong? Why are you giving me that look?"

He shrugged, "No reason, just watching to see if anything else interesting happens."

Keiichiro then walked into the room with a smile on his face, "There you are Ichigo, I was looking for you." He walked to her, "I drove by the airport on my way here. Guess who I saw?"

Ichigo blinked, "Who?"

"Masaya of course! I guess he decided to come back early and surprise you. If so, then don't tell him that I told you cause I'll feel really bad if I'm right."

Ichigo jumped up out of her chair with a huge smile on her face, "Masaya is back, but it's so early!" She grabbed her coat, "I can't wait to see him, I'll head over to his house immediately!" She ran out the door, hitting a table and two chairs on her way out.

Ryou's eyes lowered to the ground. He tried to hide his disappointment from Ichigo who was to excited to notice anyone else at the time.

Keiichiro noticed how upset Ryou was and walked to him after Ichigo had left. He put his hand on Ryou's shoulder, "Maybe...I shouldn't have said anything?"

Ryou closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head. He began to walk up the stairs to his room, "It's fine. I don't care, I'm totally over her."

Everyone knew he was lying, even Tart and Purin who had ceased what they were doing to watch what was going on.

Ryou watched the happy Ichigo as she ran through the park with a big smile on her face. Ryou couldn't help but smile also, "I love it when she's happy." She finally disappeared from his sight and he fell onto his bed, "I wonder if she'd be that happy if it were me coming home from a long trip." He banged his head against a wall, "What am I thinking? Why should I care!" He laughed, "I'm such an idiot, I can't even compare myself to a guy like Masaya."

Purin popped out from under the bed, "Big brother?"

Ryou jumped up in surprise, "Purin?! How did you get in here?!" His face turned red, "Did you hear..."

Purin started jumping up and down, "You love Ichigo! I knew it! How sad, it's just like the movies!" She stopped and put her face near Ryou's, "Are you jealous of Masaya?"

"I don't know what you're talking about! I don't love Ichigo! You misunderstood!" Ryou pushed her out the door, "Now, go play with Tart and keep your mouth shut about anything you heard from me just now!" He slammed the door behind her. "Maybe I should stop speaking out loud." He took a picture of her out of a box he had hidden in his closet. The picture was of Ichigo yelling at him about overworking her. He put the picture in the box and put it back in the closet where it would remain hidden.

"She's a tough one isn't she?"

Ryou jumped up once again, "Who's there?"

Kish appeared in a corner of the room, "I knew you loved her! You're not very good at hiding it!"

"Why are you still here, get out of my room!" Ryou shouted.

Kish laughed, "Don't get angry, it's not like I didn't already know!" He sighed, "It's really too bad though. It seems that we're both stuck with this hopeless love for her. Don't worry though, in no time, she'll be running into my arms." At that, he disappeared once again.

Ryou began searching his room just to be sure that their weren't anymore unwanted guests before he rested in his bed, "Like that'll ever happen. Kish is a bigger idiot than I am." He closed his eyes, "As long as Ichigo is happy, that's all that matters, right?" At least that's what he had fooled himself into thinking.

Ichigo ran down the street as if she had endless amounts of energy. The smile on her face grew as she caught sight of Masaya's house. Before knocking the door, she fixed her hair and adjusted her skirt. She knocked on the door, "Masaya? Are you here?!" There was no answer. She knocked again, but this time the door opened. She hesitated at first, but managed to take a step inside, "Masaya! I'm coming in!" She took off her shoes and started toward his room. She heard a voice behind the door, "That's Masaya's voice," she thought to herself, "he finally is back!" She slowly opened the door, but what she saw caused her eyes to grow in shock, "M-Masaya?"

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Yet another chapter. I'll be updating a lot more now that I'm back at my computer. I wanted to use one of the computer's at the hotel to update, but I couldn't save anything on it so...

As for the questions in the reviews:

gelatinoussugar: I'm not quite sure how many chapters there will be. I'll just keep going until I think it's an appropriate time to end.

Mew BBerry: I read your fanfic and I enjoyed it! I'll continue to read your future chapters so please keep up the good work!

Until next time!


	7. Wish You Were Mine

Wah! I made it way too obvious what was gonna happen in this chapter! Oh well...

Well, I guess you all know what's next then. TT

Chapter 7

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It was true, Masaya was finally home. Too bad Ichigo had to come and see him at the wrong time. Ichigo's eyes filled with tears at what she was watching. Masaya was on the floor, a blonde, most likely an English girl was on top of him with her blouse unbuttonned. She was kissing _Ichigo's _boyfriend, the one who "loved" Ichigo. Ichigo didn't want to believe what she was seeing. She forcefully pushed the door all the way open startling Masaya and the blonde girl on top of him, "Masaya! What...I mean...Who...?" The words would not leave her mouth. She realized that she was too upset to even talk and ran out of the house.

Masaya pushed the girl off of him and ran to his front door, "Ichigo wait, give me a chance to explain!" He tried to call out to her, but she just ignored him and kept running pretending that she could not hear him. He fell to his knees and hit the ground, "Damn!"

The girl, who went by Laurel, put her arms around Masaya and whispered into his ear, "See now? That takes care of your 'girlfriend problem' right? Now we can express our love to each other without worry." She smiled and bent down to kiss him.

He pushed her away causing her to fall behind him, "Like I said before Laurel, I don't love you! Ichigo is the only girl I love and nothing you do will change that, ever! It was useless for you to fly over here, so why don't you just go back to England and stay out of my life!" He took his coat by the door and ran after Ichigo leaving Laurel behind.

Ichigo ran into the cafe where everyone had already started getting ready to close the shop.

Retasu dropped the broom in her hands and ran to Ichigo's side, "Ichigo, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

Ichigo ignored Retasu's questions and ran up the stairs bursting into Ryou's room. Ryou turned away from his computer and looked at Ichigo. Ichigo took a couple of steps closer to Ryou and then stopped, "Ryou..." She was still not able to complete her sentences.

Ryou stood up, "Ichigo, what happenned? What did he do?!" Ryou's eyes filled with anger as he thought to himself, "Masaya, what have you done so bad to hurt Ichigo! He had better watch out cause I'm gonna...I'm gonna..."

Ichigo closed her eyes and ran into Ryou's arms, "Ryou!" The two fell to the ground. Ichigo buried her face in Ryou's chest and allowed herself to cry even louder than before. She never knew how much she trusted him until now and it comforted her a little to know that he was there for her whenever she needed him. "Ryou! It was horrible! There was another girl!"

Ryou brushed his fingers through her hair. Nothing around him mattered anymore. At that time, Ichigo was the only thing that mattered. He held her closer to him, "It's alright now. I'm here, and I'll never let you go, so just relax and let me comfort you." Ichigo's crying finally ceased and she fell asleep in his arms. Ryou smiled and lifted her up. He brought her down stairs where everyone gathered around to see what was wrong with Ichigo. Ryou smiled, "I guess you all will have to wait 'til tomorrow. Will one of you carry her home? I'll finish closing up." Zakuro nodded and took Ichigo on her back and left the cafe. The other girls finished cleaning and soon left also. Ryou turned the lights off in the kitchen and walked out to lock the front door when he saw Masaya run in out of breath.

Masaya ran up to Ryou, "Is Ichigo still here? I really need to talk to her!"

Ryou couldn't control his temper. He punched Masaya in the face knocking him to the ground. Masaya put his hand over his eye where Ryou had hit him and looked up confused. Ryou rubbed his hand which was now hurting from the hard hit he had just given Masaya, "You stay away from Ichigo! I will not let you hurt her anymore then you already have!"

Masaya lowered his head in shame, "She told you, huh?" Ryou refused to answer his question. Masaya stood up, "Please give me a chance to explain, give me just ten minutes."

Ryou turned his back to him, "You've got five." He then sat down and waited for Masaya's explanation.

Masaya took the seat across from him and began, "Look, the girl I met is Laurel, I met her in England. She was studying with me and then I guess she got kinda attracted to me. I kept trying to tell her that I was in love with someone else, but she just wouldn't listen. I decided to come home early and surprise Ichigo, but Laurel followed me. I let her into my house to use the phone and get a ticket back to England, and then she started kissing me. I know I could have stopped her, but I wasn't thinking straight at the time. It was stupid and I'm sorry."

Ryou wasn't satisfied, "You expect me to believe a story like that? It probably took you the whole run here to come up with that. How do I know you're not lying to me?"

"Because it's true."

The two guys turned around to see Laurel at the front door. Tears were in her eyes. "What Masaya just told you is the truth." She looked over at Masaya, "I'm so sorry Masaya, my boyfriend died in a car accident last year and it felt really lonely not having anyone to love. That's when you came in and I tried to forget that sadness by trying to fall in love with you. I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused for you and your girlfriend. She wiped the tears from her eyes, "I got a plane back to England for tomorrow, until then, I'll wait in a motel." She then left without saying another word.

Ryou sighed, "So it is true." Masaya nodded. Ryou got up from the chair, "Zakuro took Ichigo home, I'll explain to her what happenned tomorrow."

Masaya also got up from his chair and shut his eyes, "No, I'll talk to her. This is my fault to begin with. I just hope she'll allow me to talk to her." He put his coat back on and left the cafe.

Ryou locked the door after Masaya left and went back to his room. He lied in his bed and stared at his ceiling, "Masaya is innocent." He rolled to his side, "I should be happy for Ichigo. She'll once again be happy with Masaya." He closed his eyes, "So why aren't I?" He began to fall asleep, but before that, he whispered to himself, "Ichigo, how I wish you were mine..."

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Poor Ryou! Sorry all you RyouxIchigo fans out there but Masaya is innocent. So I guess that means Ichigo and Masaya are going to be together forever...or are they?

Sorry for the short chapter, I just thought that it was a decent place to end it. I was pretty impressed with this chapter also, but I'm still not satisfied.

Alyssa: Either you're really smart, or I'm just extremely dumb for making things so obvious. I'm really glad you're enjoying the story!

Please come back for the next chapter!


	8. Always By Your Side

This is one of my fluffier chapters in my opinion.

Just so everyone won't get really mad, I'm going to tell you that I got some of the ideas for this chapter from the anime "Ai Yori Aoshi" which I highly recommend to those who like anime love stories(that would be me!).

Ya! I also got a bunch more really nice reviews! ::wipes tear from eye:: Thanks a bunch everyone!

Chapter 8 (Woohoo! I can't believe I've written this much!)

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The phone in Ryou's room started ringing. He opened one eye to look at the clock. 2:46 a.m.. "Who would be calling this early?" He rubbed his eyes as he walked to the phone and picked it up, "Hello?" He said sleepily as he watched the pouring rain beat against his window.

"Ryou?"

His eyes widened, "Ichigo?! It's you! What's wrong?!"

Her voice was shaky, "I couldn't sleep last night, so I took a walk in the park. It started to rain, so I decided I'd go home, but when I turned around, I say a figure and it pushed me into this hole and I can't get out! I am soooo sorry for calling this early, but I really need you, please help me!"

Ryou immediately through a coat on over his pajamas and began running out into the rain, the phone in his hand, "Don't worry Ichigo, I'm coming! I'll be at the park in a second!" He then hung up and continued running toward the park. It was freezing outside. He finally reached the park and began calling for Ichigo, "Ichigo! Ichigo where are you?!"

"Ryou! I'm down here!" Ichigo's voice came from a hole in the middle of the park, probably made by the figure Ichigo was talking about.

He ran over to the hole and looked down where he saw Ichigo, soaking wet on the wall of the hole. He lied down on his stomach and reached down with his hand, "Ichigo, grab onto me! I'll pull you out!" The rain beat hard on the both of them.

Ichigo nodded and reached for his hand. It was obvious she was crying from the tear stains on her face. She still couldn't reach his hand. She tried jumping but it was still no use, "Ryou, you're too high! I can't reach you!"

He crawled closer to the hole and once again reached for her hand, but they still couldn't touch, "Ichigo, jump higher!"

Ichigo tried jumping again, but still there was no success. She began to cry again, "I can't, it's no use!"

"Ichigo, it's okay, I'll get you out of here no matter how long it takes!"

She smiled at his encouragement and jumped once more, this time finally managing to grab his hand, "Ryou, please don't let go! I'm so tired! I'm not going to be able to do all that again!" She threw up her other hand and grabbed onto him.

"Don't worry, I'd never let you go!" Her hands began to slip out of his, but before they could let go, he took her wrist with his other hand and finally pulled her up.

She put her arms around his waist and smiled, "Thank you."

He smiled and took her hand, "Come on, you can stay at the cafe tonight!" They both ran back to the cafe, soaking from head to toe. He walked her up to his room and took a seat in his chair, "What were you doing outside in the middle of the night?!"

She brushed the hair from her face and looked up at him, "Masaya came by last night, and explained to me about that English girl. I was really happy, but there was something wrong that was keeping me up. I thought that some fresh air would help me think. I'm really sorry!"

Ryou sighed, "Well it's over now, why don't you go take a bath before you catch a cold." He handed her a robe.

Ichigo nodded and took the robe, "Thank you Ryou." She left the room and walked into the bathroom. She hung her clothes to let them dry and turned the water on. She hopped into the bath with a smile on her face, "Ah... A warm bath. This feels sooo good." She poured the water over her head. She spent 15 minutes in the bath when she finally came out. She put the robe on and walked back into Ryou's room, "Alright Ryou, I'm done, you can also go take a bath now!" Ryou didn't move. She pouted thinking that Ryou was ignoring her, "Hey Ryou!" She reached out her hand to touch him, but when she did, his body was as cold as ice, "Oh my God, Ryou!"

Ryou weakly turned his head to face her, "I'm sorry Ichigo, I guess I caught a little cold." He passed out on the ground.

"Ryou!" She tried to carry him onto his bed, "Ryou, I'm to weak to carry you!"

He smiled at her, "I'll be fine Ichigo, why don't you go to the guest room and rest. Don't worry about me."

She finally managed to get him in his bed and cover him up. She put her hand over his head, "Ryou, don't be stupid. You have a terrible fever! I'm not leaving until you get better!"

He tried to open his mouth and say something, but only ended up coughing, "Please Ichigo, just forget it, I'm not really good at recoveries so you'll just be wasting your time." He was sweating horribly.

"This is all my fault." Ichigo wiped away most of the sweat on his forehead. She closed her eyes and sighed, "Ryou, there is one thing I learned in health class several days ago that I think can help." She stood up by the bed, "Could you please turn away for a minute. Don't look."

He was confused, but nodded anyway with the little strength he had and rolled to his side facing the wall away from Ichigo. "What are you going to do?" He asked curiously. He coughed some more as he pulled more of the blankets over him .

"Just wait, I'll be done in a second. I won't leave until you've recovered. Ichigo sighed once more and took off her coat. She then began removing all her clothes, "You better not look or I'll tear your eyes out!" She then climbed into the bed with him and covered herself.

Ryou began blushing realizing what she was doing, but it wasn't noticeable because he was already flushed from the fever, "I-Ichigo? What are you..." He began to turn his head.

Ichigo's eyes were still closed, "Please don't look Ryou!"

He nodded once again and turned back around.

"I found out in health class that another person's body heat is one of the best ways to heal a fever. This is all my fault and this is the least I can do as a sorry for what I've done to you." She smiled and moved closer to him.

He also smiled and softly whispered with what was left of his strength, "Thank you."

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Am I the only one who thought that was sweet?!

Please review! If anyone has an idea for future chapters, I could sure use them! So please give me an idea if you have any!

Thank you and come back for the next chapters!


	9. Gift Of The Fireflies

Omigosh, I accidentally labeled both Ch.7 and Ch.8 as Ch.7(really hope that makes sense)! Oh well, an easy mistake to fix.

I am really proud of myself right now for writing this much! This is the most I've ever written in a fanfiction(this is my second ;) and I don't plan on ending it any time soon!

Once it does end, I plan on making either a Inuyasha fanfiction, or a fanfiction about Zakuro.

Thank you to all my readers and an extra special thanks to my reviewers!

This is my favorite and probably longest chapter ever!!! Oh my God it even made me cry(I'm such a sap ;;).

Now for the hopefully enjoyable Ch.9!!

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The sun shined through the windows of Ryou's room. Ryou's eyes slowly opened, he had recovered from his fever at last. He looked to his side expecting to find Ichigo, but it was just an empty spot. He got up and began walking down the stairs, "Hey Ichigo! You still here?!"

Ichigo walked out of the kitchen and toward him, "Yeah, I'm right here, what do you need?"

Ryou scratched his head, "Actually, I just wanted to thank you for...you know...what you did last night, using your body heat to help me recover, I didn't know you were that smart." They both blushed.

"It was no problem Ryou, and I'm really sorry about making you come out so early in the morning to rescue me." She smiled.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I wonder who made that hole and got you trapped in it. Did you happen to see who it was, maybe even a little hint?" Ryou asked curiously.

Ichigo thought hard for several seconds, "No, we shouldn't worry about it though, it was probably some bratty kid trying to play some joke on me." She grabbed her coat, "I better be going, I have big plans for today!" She began walking out the door.

Ryou blinked, "Big plans? What are you going to do today?" An expression of worry covered his face as he looked at her and thought to himself, "Please don't say the name Masaya..."

She giggled, "Didn't I tell you last night? After Masaya came by to explain things to me, he said that he would make it up to me by taking me out to dinner at a restaurant! I can't wait! It's gonna be my first date with him since he came back!" She waved goodbye to him and ran out the door yelling back, "Thank you for all the comfort you have given me while he was gone, I promise to make it up to you!" She soon disappeared from his sight.

Ryou waved goodbye with a fake smile, "I should have known." He sat down at the nearest chair and yawned, "I'm still tired, maybe I'll go back to sleep for another hour." As he walked up the stairs, a figure began to appear in front of him.

"You idiot! You ruined my whole plan! I made that hole so that Ichigo would be trapped in it and I would be the wonderful hero to save her and we would live happily ever after!" It was an angry Kish.

"Kish! That was you?! Didn't I tell you to go home and leave us all alone!"

Kish laughed, "Oh well. I'll forgive you this time. At least it worked out for you. You got to sleep in the same bed with a naked Ichigo, must have been great for you. You don't know how much I wished that I were the one with the fever in your place." He snickered at the sight of Ryou's red cheeks after he had said that.

Ryou turned his face away from Kish to hide the blushing, "You were spying on us!" Kish just snickered even more. This made Ryou even more angrier, "Besides, if you had taken my place, Ichigo would probably let you die before getting that close to you!"

Kish pouted. Ryou smiled seeing as Kish didn't know what he could say after that. Kish just smiled and turned around, "Ichigo will be mine! Not yours or that stupid, ungrateful boyfriend of hers. You'll see!" He disappeared leaving Ryou standing there proud of what he said to Kish.

Ichigo played with the food sitting on the plate in front of her as she looked up at the sky. Masaya and her were at a small restaurant for a date. She sighed and continued staring off into nowhere. She thought to herself, "Something's wrong, what is in my head that's bothering me so much?"

Masaya watched her from across the table in confusion. She had been doing the same thing since the date first began and it was making him kind of worried, "Ichigo? Is there something wrong? You've been staring at who knows what and playing with your food ever since you got here. What's on your mind?" She didn't answer, she was too distracted with whatever she was thinking about to even hear him. He blinked and waved his hand up and down in front of her face, "Uh...Ichigo?"

She shook her head and then looked at him, "Oh. I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Masaya stared at her blankly for a moment and then repeated, "What's wrong? You haven't even taken a bite out of your food. Are you still mad at me?"

Ichigo rapidly shook her head, "Oh no! Of course not! It's nothing, I'm just thinking." She took a huge bite out of her food, "See! Nothing to worry about!" She laughed nervously as he stared at her. She looked down at the table, "I'm sorry."

Masaya leaned over the table and kissed her on the forehead, "Don't apologize. I was just a little worried about you, that's all." He sat back in his chair and smiled, "You know that if there's anything on your mind, you can always talk to me about it. I'm here for you."

She returned his smile and stood up, "I'm finished eating now, so we can go now if you want."

He nodded, "That's sounds good. Let's go then." He took her hand in his and pulled her close to him as they began to walk."

Ichigo leaned against his shoulder, "I'll at least try to have fun," she said in her head as she tried to smile and make herself look happy. The look in her eyes revealed that there was something bothering her. Masaya noticed this, but he didn't say anything fearing that he may upset her. She stopped, "I know what it is now. I know what's bothering me." Her pink eyes began to fill with tears. She looked into Masaya's worried eyes and opened her mouth, "Masaya..."

Masaya smiled, "It's okay Ichigo, you don't have to say it, I know that you no longer want to be with me."

Ichigo blinked several of the tears away, "Masaya, but...how did you..."

Masaya put his hand on her cheek, "I could see it in your eyes Ichigo."

A few tears fell to the ground. She looked him in the eyes, "I'm sorry."

He smiled, "It's okay, but that doesn't mean I'll stop loving you. I'll try my best to win your heart again."

She took out a handkerchief and wiped away her tears, "Thank you." She ran the opposite way of Masaya as he watched her with a smile.

It was11:30 p.m. when she saw the cafe in front of her. A calm smile came across her face, "Ryou..."

She ran through the doors where she say Ryou standing. She took a moment to catch her breath and walked up to him slowly. "Ryou, there's something I need to tell you." Ryou just looked at her. She took a deep breat and continued, "Ryou, I..."

He put his finger over her mouth stopping her in the middle of her sentence. He then took her hand, "Please, let me take you somewhere." She nodded in agreement. He smiled and they both ran out of the cafe hand in hand. They soon found a forest.

"Ryou where are you taking me? Why don't we slow down a bit?"

He laughed, "We can't slow down, we have to hurry."

She continued following behind him. She looked toward the dark sky and watched the stars go by, "So many stars!"

"We're there." Ryou said as he tried to catch her breath.

She took her eyes off the sky and found herself by a small, calm pond surrounded by trees. There were less trees in this part of the forest and at that time of night is when the fireflies danced over and around the pond. She looked around the area in amazement and surprise, "Oh my God."

Ryou sat down against a tree followed shortly by Ichigo. He looked into her shocked eyes with a smile on his face, "So, what do you think?"

She began crying.

Ryou's smile faded away, "Ichigo, what's wrong?"

"Ryou!" She jumped into his arms and put her lips against his.

Now it was Ryou who was surprised. Everything was suddenly slow motion to him, the tears falling behind Ichigo as they began to fall to the ground, and the fireflies dancing around them. He thought to himself, "Is this a dream? If it is, I don't ever want to wake up." He put his arms around her and they both fell to the ground. The light from the moon, stars, and fireflies reflecting from the pond shown against them as they shared their first true kiss together. Their lips separated and Ryou opened his eyes. He looked at Ichigo. Her eyes also slowly began to open. Tears fell freely from her face. The light reflecting from the pond hit her face revealing each and every feature. Ryou stared at her beauty in awe. The fireflies flying behind her completed the image. He couldn't move nor speak. He smiled and put his hand on her cheek, "Ichigo, I love you."

Ichigo sat in between his legs and leaned against his chest, "Ryou... I love you too..."

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::Wipes away tears after reading chapter over::

I love this chapter! It is my all time favorite! This is a time where I need ideas because it's hard to think of something to write about after writing something like that!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did! Please review and come back for the next chapter!

gumgumgirl: "Tokyo Mew Mew Genius." Has a nice ring to it lol. Thank you so much for your encouragement! I am really glad you like this story!


	10. Love Rival

I was thinking about ending the story on Ch. 9 since it's hard to make a love story any better after the guy and girl get together, but after reading it through, I noticed there was a lot of things that still need to be finished and I also came up with more ideas. I also noticed that Ryou caught TWO fevers! I forgot about his first one. I banged my head against the desk after noticing it... Why didn't anyone tell me before! Oh well, I guess it's okay. Let's just say he has a bad immune system.

Anyway, I used your idea for this chapter Miss Bree, I kinda twisted it a little though, hope you don't mind! Thank you so much!

Anyway, this chapter kinda freaked me out (Candi wrote most of it), but I still like it. Hope you do also!

Ch.10 (woohoo! finally to the 2 digit numbers!)

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Ryou and Ichigo had fallen asleep under the tree. The fireflies were gone, but the moonlight gave the pond just the right amount of beauty to the area. They were both unaware of the unnoticed guest who had followed them to the forest... It was Kisshu (what a surpise...). He watched the sleeping couple with fury in his eyes. He growled and disappeared. Ichigo woke up and looked around. Ryou also got up and watched Ichigo curiously, "What's wrong? You okay?"

Ichigo smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine, I just thought I heard something. Guess I'm just hearing things." She took one last look around the surrounding area to make sure she was correct. She then looked over at Ryou, "Thank you...for taking me here. I've never seen a place so beautiful."

He stroked her hair and kissed her cheek, "You're welcome. I thought you would like it."

She rested her head on his shoulder. She stared over the pond and looked at the reflection of the silver moon and stars. She sighed and then looked up at the dark sky above them, "You know, I still haven't told Masaya how I feel about you. Do you think I should?"

Ryou glanced over at her, "If he still believes you're his girlfriend, then you probably should."

She shook her head, "No it's not that. We are no longer together. It's just that, he said he still loves me, even if I don't share the same feelings for him any longer."

Ryou smiled, "Tell him if you want. If you want my opinion about it, I think you should keep this whole thing a secret from everyone for a while, just until he gets over his feelings for you, but if you think it would be better to let him know, then I say go for it. It'll also be really weird for the girls if they knew too, so let's not tell them either."

Ichigo nodded, "I think you're right. It's better if we just keep it to ourselves." She smiled and closed her eyes, but shortly opened them and jumped up, "Ryou! What time is it!"

Ryou stared at her blankly for a moment and then looked at his watch, "It's 2 in the morning. Wow, we've been here that long?"

Ichigo's face turned pale, "2 in the morning! My parents are gonna kill me!" She picked up her stuff and ran out of the forest.

Ryou laughed and leaned against the tree, "What a way to ruin the moment!"

Ichigo snuck into the house and quietly walked into her room and closed the door. She changed into her pajamas and climbed into her bed, "Tomorrow, I'll just pretend I was here the whole time, they'll never suspect a thing. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. A sound came from the inside of her closet. Her eyes quickly opened and she glanced over at her closet. She slowly got up, "Who's there?" She grabbed the closet door. She held her breath and rapidly pushed it open. No one was there. She blinked, "Guess it was just my imagination." She turned around and was tackled to the ground, "Kish!"

Kish had an unfamiliar look in his eyes. He had no expression on his face, "Hey kitty, did you miss me?"

Ichigo tried to shake herself free but was not successful, "Kish, you pervert! Get off me!" She threw up her hand to punch him. Kish grabbed her by the wrist and pinned her hand to the ground and did the same with her other hand. He looked as if he were lifeless. The look in his eyes scared her, "What's wrong with you?" He closed his eyes and leaned down to kiss her. Ichigo closed her eyes and turned away. Kish licked her cheek causing her to shiver. Ichigo struggled, "Kish, stop! Mom! Dad!"

Kish put his hand over her mouth, "They're not here. They left you a note on the door, didn't you read it?"

Ichigo was now really scared, "Stop it Kish! What's wrong with you! Are you crazy!"

Kish again leaned down to kiss her only to receive the same reaction from her as before. He grinned, "I love you Ichigo. Wouldn't you rather be with me than Ryou?" She struggled to free her hands from his grasp but failed, he was stronger than she thought he was.

She was shaking in fear, "Kish!"

He put his mouth over hers and closed his eyes, this time she could not shake herself free.

"Stop!" She shouted at him but he only ignored her. Ryou's words repeated in her head, "Ichigo, I love you." She began to cry.

Kish continued kissing her. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Ichigo's eyes were closed, tears were flowing down her cheeks. She opened her eyes, "P-Please Kish," her voice was shaking with fear, "Please stop! Please don't!"

The life returned to Kish's eyes. He realized how scared he had made Ichigo and hated himself for it." He slowly backed away and disappeared. Ichigo stared out into the space for a moment and stood up.

Morning had finally come and Ryou was unlocking the cafe doors when Kish appeared in front of him. Ryou jumped back, "Kish! What are..."

"You win, " Kish muttered.

Ryou stared at him blankly, "What are you talking about?"

"Ichigo is yours, I give up. I'll go home just like you and she wanted." He rose into the air, "I don't have time to get Tart, so just tell him we'll come back to get him next month. Don't worry if he starts throwing a fit, it will only last about 15 to 20 minutes." He then left.

Kish reappeared in Ichigo's room.

She held up her hair brush, "Don't come any closer to me or I'll throw it!"

Kish chuckled, "Relax, I just came here to talk to you."

Ichigo lowered her brush, "About what?"

Kish sighed, "I'm sorry Ichigo, but it's over."

Ichigo stared blankly at him, "Over? What's over?"

"We're over," Kish replied.

"There was a 'we'?" Ichigo was still confused.

Kish shook his head, "Now don't be upset Ichigo, I know this must be really hard for you, but we can still be friends."

Ichigo wasn't listening, "How can 'we' be over if 'we' never were?"

Kish continued, "I'll come visit to see how you're doing. I'm sorry, but you and I both know that long distance relationships never work."

Ichigo was lost in her own thoughts, "Can there be an over without a beginning?"

Kish flicked her on the forehead, "Are you listening? You know, this is really hard for me."

"Ow!" Ichigo rubbed her forehead, "What are you talking about?"

He laughed, "Basicly, what I'm trying to say is that you're stuck with blondie."

Ichigo smiled, "So that means, you're gonna stop stalking me?"

Kish put his hand on her shoulder, "It's okay. It may take some time, but you'll get over it."

Ichigo hugged him, "Thank you Kish. I hope you visit us very often."

He blushed, "Yeah well...maybe I will, but only when I have time." He rose into the air and disappeared.

Ichigo watched him leave with a smile on her face, but that smile shortly faded when she saw the clock, "Oh no, I'm late for work!" She slid her feet into her shoes and shot out the door.

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Well, that's chapter 10! I don't know about all of you, but I really liked the conversation between Ichigo and Kish with his whole "we're over" speech.

I'm kinda making this story up as I go along so I really don't know how many chapters its going to have.

By the way, I have exams so I might not be able to update as often as I used to.

When school's out I'll be able to update a lo more!

Until next chapter!


	11. Little Secrets

Omigosh, this is probably the longest fanfiction I've ever written! I was only expecting like 5 chapters! This is so kewl! o

Okay, this chapter will focus mostly on Lettuce.

I really like Lettuce, probably because her and I have a lot in common.

Now, Chapter 11!

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"Omigosh! I can't believe I'm gonna be late!" Mud splashed onto the back of her legs as Ichigo ran through the puddled streets toward the cafe, "Well, I guess it's kinda believable since I don't really remember the last time I wasn't late." She stood in front of the cafe doors and took several seconds to catch her breath before entering.

Lettuce looked in her direction, "Wow Ichigo. You're here earlier than usual. Only late by 15 minutes this time." She smiled and continued walking to the kitchen catching herself before she tripped.

Mint snickered and took a sip of her tea, "Are you ready for another earful from Ryou? You know how he gets when you're late. He'll probably make you stay after closing to mop the floors again, or he might make you wash the dishes for Keiichiro, or..."

Ryou walked in and looked over at the group of girls. He then directed his eyes toward Ichigo. Mint grinned expecting the usual yelling and arguing, but Ryou just gave Ichigo a gentle smile. Ichigo responded with a smile of her own, Ryou then walked up the stairs to his room and both continued with their own business.

Everyone stared at Ichigo. Zakuro leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, "Well that was new?"

Mint stood up and threw her fists on the table, "What the hell was that? There's something going on between you two isn't there! There's something you're not telling us Ichigo and I demand to know what it is right this second!"

Ichigo backed away as Mint came closer, "What are you babbling about? There's nothing going on between Ryou and me!"

Lettuce giggled, "Well we all know that's not true Ichigo. You're keeping some little secrets from us and even I'm a little curious about what they are."

"You finally payed Ryou to pretend to like you for a day didn't you?" Zakuro asked as she searched for split ends in her hair.

Ichigo let out a nervous laugh, "No, it's nothing like that. I guess Ryou must have finally fallen in love with the perfect girl." Her eyes filled with stars, "Someone beautiful, smart, talented, a wonderful personality..." She looked around to see that no one was paying attention."

Zakuro stood up and began to walk away, "I'm going back to work, you had all better do the same."

Lettuce got up after her and whispered into Ichigo's ear, "Tell me the secret later."

Mint was the only one who remained, but she did not get up. The way she stared at Ichigo made her extremely nervous, "You know I'm gonna find out Ichigo. I'll do whatever it takes to find out." At that, she got up and walked away.

Ichigo took a deep sigh of relief. She looked around and noticed that the cafe was quieter than it usually was, "Hey! Has anyone seen Pudding?"

"Ryou gave her the day off. It was something about 'calming Tart down' cause Kish and Pie left him here on earth." Lettuce answered.

Ryou shut down his computer and headed for the stairway to check in on the cafe. He got up and opened the door to see Lettuce with her arm up and ready to knock his door.

Lettuce lowered her arm and looked to the floor blushing, "I'm sorry, I-I just wanted to talk to you...you know...if you're not busy or anything, but if you are, it's okay cause I can come back some other time when you're not, unless you don't want me too then I can just..." She stopped herself realizing how fast she was babbling. She played with the pleats in her skirt, "I'm sorry." She turned around and began walking the opposite direction.

"Lettuce, wait." Ryou said putting his hand on her shoulder. Lettuce stopped, her cheeks turning a deeper shade of pink at Ryou's warm touch.

She turned around still trying to avoid eye contact with the blonde in front of her, "Do-Do you need something?" She rocked back and forth on her heels still watching Ryou's hand on her shoulder from the corner of her eye.

He stepped aside, clearing the doorway, "It's kinda lonely up here, I could use some company, if you don't mind."

Lettuce shook her head and looked up at him with an excited smile across her face, "Of course not, I don't mind at all." She walked inside and closed the door behind her. She followed Ryou to a couple of chairs near the window and took the chair beside his own. She felt nervous being in his room for the first time, but happy at the same time. She didn't know if she should be the first to talk, so she waited to see if Ryou would say anything first.

Ryou saw that she was waiting for him so he began the conversation, "So...you said you wanted to talk to me?" He smiled trying to help her feel more confortable noticing how nervous she was.

"Ah, yes." She pulled out a small, light blue bag tied with a white ribbon and handed it to him, "They're cookies. I know you probably have a lot of them since we kinda make them here at the cafe, and they're definitely nothing compared to Keiichiro's, but I worked really hard on them last night and I don't think they're really that bad." She watched as he untied the ribbon and took out the first cookie. She felt the butterflies in her stomach as he took the first bite.

"They're delicious!" He said smiling as he took out another cookie.

Lettuce's face lit up, "Are they really?"

"Of course! You're a wonderful cook Lettuce! Did you make all these cookies for me?"

Lettuce nodded cheerfully, "Yes. I am so happy that you like them."

Ryou got up from his chair, "I'll save the rest for later, but for now, I think we should both get back to work."

"Alright." Lettuce followed behind him as they walked out the door. Ryou closed the door behind her and headed toward the staircase.

Lettuce stopped, "Um... Ryou?"

Ryou also stopped and turned to face her, "Yeah?"

She put her arms behind her and began to play with the pleats in her skirt once again, "It's just, if you're not busy or anything this weekend, I was just wondering..." She paused, deciding whether or not to continue. She shook her head and went on, "Do you want to join me for a picnic this weekend?" Her face went back to pink and her eyes went back to the floor as she nervously waited for his answer, fearing for how he might respond.

Ryou was surprised at Lettuce's invitation. It wasn't that he didn't like Lettuce, but he loved Ichigo. At the time, he didn't know what to do. He still wasn't ready to tell anyone about his relationship with Ichigo, but he didn't want to break Lettuce's heart. It was obvious that this was her first time sharing her feelings with a guy and he feared that she would be afraid to ever do the same if another guy if he were to reject her. An awkward silence fell between the two of them and both were obviously nervous as to what might happen the next second.

Lettuce finally spoke up seeing that Ryou obviously wasn't interested in her, "It's okay. I understand, you don't have to feel bad." She tried to stop her eyes from watering.

Not knowing what to do, Ryou finally replied, "Yes, I would love to join you for a picnic this weekend."

Lettuce looked up at him, "Do...you mean it?"

He nodded.

Lettuce smiled, "Great. I'll make a wonderful lunch."

She ran toward the staircase, "I'll see you this weekend then!" At that she ran down the stairs.

Once Lettuce was out of sight, Ryou fell back against the wall and sank to the floor, "I hope you'll understand Ichigo." He banged the back of his head against the wall behind him and then rested it on his knees."

"What!" Ichigo's voice echoed through the empty cafe, "Are you crazy? Did you even think about Lettuce's feelings!"

"I couldn't think at the moment Ichigo, I was afraid that I would break her heart. If I said know, she would probably be afraid of ever sharing her feelings with a guy again." Ryou replied.

Ichigo sank into the nearest chair and sighed, "I know, but she probably won't ever trust a guy again after she finds out that you just went out with her out of pity. Did you think about that?" She put her face against the table, "I'm also kinda jealous. You know, we haven't even been on an 'official' date yet."

"Like I said, I wasn't thinking." Ryou sat in the chair in front of her and took her hand in his, "Besides, there will be plenty of more romantic moments between us." He kissed her cheek causing her to giggle a bit. "I'll just go on the picnic with her as if we were friends. Maybe that's all she meant by it anyway."

Ichigo nodded, "Alright, but Ryou, please don't break her heart. You know how sensitive she is."

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Yes! Another chapter finished!

You know, I watched Gundam Seed the other night, and surprisingly, I liked it.

I never really liked any of those Gundam series before and was expecting this one to be just like the rest, but it wasn't.

Yeah, that had nothing to do with this, but I thought that I'd just share that.

The next chapter will be about Ryou and Lettuce's "date"?

Until then!


	12. Best to Cry

Thank you everyone for reading and/or reviewing this story. I really wasn't expecting it to be this long! Just 5 more days of school!

Anyway, I don't know if I'll be updating next week because of exams, but I'll definitely be updating more after it's all over.

This chapter is pretty short, but I really like it and I hope you all do also.

This chapter is for you, Mew Foxy! I'm really glad you like this story enough to beg for updates that much.

Another chapter, Ch. 12!

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Ryou waited in the park. He looked at his watch. 12:13, Lettuce told him to meet her there at noon. He paced up and down the path several times until he sat down in a nearby bench. He looked at his watch again, but it was only 40 more seconds than the last time he checked it. "Maybe she got lost on the way here, I mean, she is Lettuce." He was still trying to plan out what he was going to say to her fearing that she might get the wrong idea because he had agreed to this date. "I could just tell her the truth about Ichigo and me," he said quietly to himself. He shook his head, "But then we would have to explain a whole lot to her." Once more he checked his watch, 12:19, "Where could she be?"

"Ryou!" Ryou looked toward the direction where he had heard the familiar voice. Lettuce was rushing toward him with a sack of food in her hand. She finally reached him. She took some time to try and catch her breath, "I'm so sorry...I'm late." She took a few more breaths before continuing, "I accidentally burned some of the food...and I had to cook some more."

Ryou smiled, "You really didn't have to do that, I'm sure the food would have tasted fine anyway, even if was burned." He took the bag from her hand and set it on the bench, "You had me worried, I thought you had gotten yourself lost."

Her cheeks turned red. She bowed repeatedly, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to worry you, I just wanted everything to be perfect."

He put his hand on her shoulder, "It's okay. I understand." He sat down and motioned for her to take a seat beside him "We should eat before the food you made gets cold."

Her cheeks turned several more shades of crimson as he removed his hand. She nodded shyly and sat down quietly as she fidgeted with the ruffles on her skirt trying not to make eye contact with the blonde boy sitting beside her.

He took her hand. Her whole face turned red as she rapidly turned her head to face him. "You should be more confident in yourself Lettuce, there's nothing to be nervous about." He released her hand and reached into the bag, pulling out two rice balls. He smiled and handed one to Lettuce, "Let's eat now, we can talk some more if you want later." Lettuce nodded and took the rice ball from him. Ryou took a bite from his.

Lettuce watched him nervously, _I really hope he doesn't hate the food, maybe I shouldn't have put more salt, or maybe there's not enough, or..._

"It's delicious!"

Lettuce blinked, "W-what?"

Ryou smiled, "It tastes great Lettuce!" He took another bite.

A big smile came across her face, "Really? You really like it?"

Ryou nodded, "Of course, you're a great cook!"

He swallowed the food in his mouth. He looked down with a concerned look on his face, _She looks so happy, I don't know what I'm supposed to say, but I promised Ichigo I would talk to Lettuce, and I know I have too._

Lettuce stared at Ryou with concern. She knew that something was worrying him, but she didn't know if he would want her getting into his business. "Um, Ryou?"

Ryou looked over at her, "Yeah? What is it Lettuce?"

Lettuce hesitated, "Is-Is something wrong? You look like you're worried about something."

Ryou sighed, "Actually Lettuce, I need to talk to you about something."

She blinked, "Sure, what is it?"

"Lettuce, I know I agreed to go on this date with you, but the truth is, there's someone else I'm in love with right now. I wasn't thinking at the time I agreed and was more concerned about your feelings, but now I know that it would only turn out to be worse in the end." She sat there staring at him, Ryou didn't know what was going through her head. He continued, "You're really important to me Lettuce, and I always want us to stay friends. The girl is also really important to me, but you and I have a different relationship, but it's just as important." He waited for her response.

Lettuce lowered her head, "I...I knew."

Ryou stared at her blankly, "Knew what?"

Lettuce kept her eyes on the ground, "I knew that you were in love with someone else, but I've loved you for so long and I didn't want to give up. I knew that there wasn't a chance for me, but I couldn't accept it. It was a very selfish thing for me to do, but like you, I also wasn't thinking. I know that you don't share the same feelings for me as you do...for Ichigo." She lifted her head and looked into Ryou's eyes revealing the tears falling from her own, "I'm...sorry."

Ryou stared back into her eyes. He was speechless for a moment, but began talking to her again, "How did you know?"

"When you look at me, you always have a smile on your face, but I know that you're hiding your true feelings inside. It's the same look you give everyone else," her voice softened, "but not Ichigo. You look at Ichigo differently. You look at her with open eyes that she can easily read. You are not afraid to show your feelings to her." A tear dropped onto her hand, "Oh no, I'm crying." She removed her glasses. "I can't cry, I can't keep being like this." She set her glasses down beside her and wiped her tears away holding in the rest, "I can't cry anymore, I have to stop being such a baby."

Ryou pulled Lettuce to himself and held her in his arms, "It's okay to cry Lettuce. Sometimes, it's best to cry. I'm beginning to let out my feelings, and now it's time for you to do the same."

Lettuce's eyes widened with shock. They began to fill again with even more tears. She closed her eyes and buried her face in Ryou's shoulder as she let her tears out and cried loudly not able to reply to what Ryou had just told her.

He smiled and gently stroked her hair.

"Thank you Ryou."

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I love Lettuce. She is so sweet! I think her and Ryou would make a really nice couple.

I hope everyone liked this chapter as much as I did.

Until next chapter!


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